Relationship between perceived social support and postpartum care attendance in three Latin American countries: a cross-sectional analytic study
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Authors
Cordero, Nancy R. Cardona
Ramos, José Perez
Tavarez, Zahira Quiñones
McIntosh, Scott
Avendaño, Esteban
DiMare, Carmen
Ossip, Deborah J.
Dye, Timothy De Ver
Issue Date
2021-05-07
Type
Article
Language
en_US
Keywords
Postpartum Care , Social Support , Maternal Health , Latin America , Costa Rica , Dominican Republic , Honduras , Social Determinants
Alternative Title
Abstract
Background:
Postpartum Care is a strategy to improve survival of women and newborns, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Early post-partum care can promote healthy behaviors and the identification of risk factors associated with poorer pregnancy-related outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the association of perceived social support with attendance to post-partum care in women from three Latin-American and Caribbean countries: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Honduras.
Methods:
Women aged 18+ who completed a pregnancy in the past 5 years were interviewed in local healthcare and community settings in each country. Perceived social support (PSS) was the primary explanatory variable and the primary outcome was self-reported attendance to post-partum care. Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals derived from logistic regression documented the association between variables. Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) were calculated, controlling for social and pregnancy-related confounders. Hosmer– Lemeshow’s Goodness-of-Fit statistic was computed to assess model fit.
Results:
Our cohort of 1199 women across the three Latin-American and Caribbean countries showed relatively high attendance to post-partum care (82.6%, n = 990). However, 51.7% (n = 581) of women reported lower levels of total PSS. Women were more likely to attend postpartum care if they had mean and higher levels of PSS Family subscale (OR: 1.9, 95%CI: 1.4, 2.7), Friends subscale (OR 1.3, 95%CI: 0.9,1.8), Significant Other subscale (OR 1.8, 95%CI: 1.3, 2.4) and the Total PSS (OR 1.8, 95%CI: 1.3, 2.5). All associations were statistically significant at p < 0.05, with exception of the Friends subscale. Women with higher levels of total PSS were more likely to attend to post-partum care (AOR:1.40, 0.97, 1.92) even after controlling for confounders (education, country, and food insecurity).
Conclusions:
Women with higher perceived social support levels were more likely to attend to post-partum care. From all countries, women from Dominican Republic had lower perceived social support levels and this may influence attendance at post-partum care for this subgroup. Societal and geographic factors can act as determinants when evaluating perceived social support during pregnancy.
Description
Citation
Cardona Cordero, N. R., Ramos, J. P., Tavarez, Z. Q., McIntosh, S., Avendaño, E., DiMare, C., Ossip, D. J., & De Ver Dye, T. (2021). Relationship between perceived social support and postpartum care attendance in three Latin American countries: a cross-sectional analytic study. Global health research and policy, 6(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-021-00196-1
Publisher
Global Health Research and Policy